stash, knit, repeat

Hi! Can we just pretend that it hasn’t been nearly a month since I last posted? That my knitting time hasn’t actually been eaten up by two adorable, variably-drooly little boys? Because I need your advice.

The knitting on tomten is finally finished, and it just needs a zipper to be truly jaunty. Photoshoot to come soon, I’m sure. With the knitting done, though, it was time for something else on the needles.

Enter the Chunky Cabled Sweater by Zoe Mellor, from “Adorable Knits for Tots”. It looks cute as pie in the book, and I had some Sublime Cashmerino Silk Aran in the stash that was suitable. Here’s the progress so far:

I like it, but here’s my question: Sometimes when I look at this sweater, it seems sort of busy. The back, front, and sleeves are all done in this cable and moss stitch motif. Is it too much? Should I make the back and/or sleeves simpler? If so, how? Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

Foiled again. I feel like I’m overdue for a simple success, knitting-wise. And it’s all Elizabeth Zimmerman’s fault!

Well, actually, it’s only partially her fault. I had this sock yarn that was just calling out to be a February Baby Sweater, but the pattern specified a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch. “That’s fine”, I thought. “I’ll just increase the size of the sweater by starting with a few more stitches.”

It sounds simple, and it was. I wondered about yarn amounts, since EZ doesn’t give yardage requirements (CURSE HER), but noted that someone on ravelry had done the same modification, minus an increase repeat, with only 350 yards of sock yarn. Since I had 400 yards, I figured I’d be set.

Well, perhaps not. Now, this is the second EZ project in a month that I’ve tried to modify to work with sock yarn. And I wound up running out of (limited run!) yarn both times. Although things finally seem to be working out regarding Tomten yarn, I knew I didn’t want to do the trade/sell dance again in such a short time. So there was only one thing to do.

Ahhh, catharsis. I noticed, as I knit, that the modified version would probably fit a one-year-old–even as large as my kids come. (Ms. Zimmerman also doesn’t provide much in the way of sizing information at her recommended gauge, at least for baby things.) So I decided to simply knit the pattern as written, in sock yarn instead of DK, and trust that it would all work out for a newborn size. Fingers crossed, of course, but it looks good so far.

Once this is crossed off my list, it’s finishing Tomten and then on to a sweater for Jacob, first socks for the husband, and more winter gear. I’d love some warm mittens this year, and the boys need them too. And as much as I love the timeless quality of Zimmerman patterns, the next few projects will absolutely be of the knit-exactly-as-written-from-a-pattern-with-schematics-and-yardage-requirements variety.

(Up next: a comically big hat for Jacob. Just as soon as he’ll sit still for the camera!)

Despite the title, things aren’t all bad. Missing Rhinebeck was sad, but I did get a nice consolation prize in the mail.

I’m not doing any yarn-buying these days, so I’m enjoying Seasons all the more. The colors are simply divine, this time, and I’m not at all regretting being a glutton and signing up for 3 seasons. The boys like it too.

Two seconds after this picture was taken, Jacob asked for his turn. :) In fact, Daniel seems to be taking after his brother, in terms of the hand-knits. He just loves being wrapped up in wool.

…and there, in his lap, is my current problem. Daniel’s tomten jacket is gorgeous so far, and he seems to love it. But I’m going to run out of yarn before completing the sleeves. Normally I’d scrap my plan of making it large enough to wear now and in the spring, rip back, and start over. But there’s not all that much extra room in it as it is:

(The white jacket fits well. Even snugly.) I’m really afraid that there just isn’t enough sock yarn in two hanks to cover my little sumo, at least in the jacket-length I’m going for. So… well, poop. What should I do, gentle reader? Here’s how it looks now:

I’ve got a message out on the Rav Seasons Club board, of course, but I’m not hopeful. My husband suggests a vest, which might work–I’d end the sleeves just before the side seam (and maybe crochet a trim around a mandarin-style collar, the sleeves, and down the front?). I’d planned to zipper the thing.

Alternately, of course, I could try using a different yarn to finish the sleeves. But I’m afraid of that just looking silly. So how about it, folks? Do you see another way?

Because I’m going to keep milking this for all it’s worth, given my sad lack of knitting time:

Sneak preview of something I actually finished, by the gods. The bigger knitting news this week, though, is that I embraced my inner single-sock-knitter self. I’ve known for weeks that I just wasn’t pleased with the way my first Rivendell sock turned out. It’s lovely in pictures and in person, but just isn’t right for my feet. It feels and looks inside-out to me, when worn. I slogged through half of the second sock before admitting to myself that I had no desire to work on it or wear a finished pair. Within minutes, I’d frogged the sucker and written email asking if a certain shop owner might take a singleton off my hands. I feel So. Much. Better.

And then, I cast on something for Daniel:

After seeing a certain adorable baby in a partially-finished tomten, I just had to hop on the EZ bandwagon. A short swatch and I was ready to go. I’m hoping this will be suitable for this fall/winter and next spring, so I’m making it big. The current plan is to make a subtly-striped jacket out of two very similar Sundara sock yarn offerings.

That’s “Bronzed Forest” and “Mossy” sock yarn, both from the first round of Seasons Club (Autumn). We’ll see if the stripes work or if it just looks messy. Either way, it feels great to be done with the projects that lagged on for my entire last trimester. It feels like I’m really closing that chapter in my life, and that’s a good thing. Here’s to the new!